The National Capitals 16U Girls volleyball team arrived at U of T Scarborough on Saturday, February 26th ready to play some serious volleyball in the OVA 16U Girls Tier 1 Open.  Another long day in the gym later, the girls would emerge as the top-ranked 16U girls team in Ontario.

The first game saw the CAPS facing Waterloo Tigers Black, who took the only games from the CAPS during the whole course of this tournament.  The Tigers beat the CAPS in straight sets 17-25 and 23-25.  Little did the National Capitals know they that, later in the day, they would be face-to-face in a rematch against Tigers, in the fight for the gold.

As pool play continued the CAPS "stuck to the game plan and passed the ball around," said parent Steve West, enabling them to beat their next two opponents, Waterdown Raiders in 3 sets and Stratford Stingers, also in 3 sets.  This gave them a first place position in their pool, going into the quarterfinals.

Thanks to strategic coaching, effective hitting and consistent serving, the girls confidently won their first set against Forest City Green from London in the quarterfinals, 25-16.  'Uncle Joe' whispered in my ear at this point that he did in fact give the girls a pep talk just before the game.  Thanks Uncle Joe.  (Please see below for a picture of Joe who, along with 'Aunt Wendy', once again came out to cheer on the team.  Joe and Wendy have been gracious enough to open their home to the team for bed and breakfast during many tournaments.)  The CAPS won the second game, 25-21, thus advancing them to the semi-finals.

In the semis, The CAPS played their best game of the day, or at least the most intense, against Ganaraska Wolves.  The CAPS lost the first match 19-25, but in the second, the tables turned and the girls played stronger and dug deeper to win by a final score of 25-18.  In the third set the CAPS' confidence was evident and they took the match 15-12.

Going into the gold medal match, Head Coach Cathy O'Doherty had some positive remarks to share.  "I am very proud and very pleased with the way the girls are playing.  We had a slow start but are getting better and better as the day goes on."

The last match of the day had the CAPS playing for gold against Waterloo Tigers Black who they had played at the start of the day.  This time around the outcome would prove to be different.  The 2 teams played 3 entertaining sets filled with beautiful rallies.  The CAPS took the first set 25-23.  In the second the Tigers came out stronger and won by a score of 25-15, but in the end the CAPS prevailed and took the final set 15-10 to become the #1 ranked 16U team in the province heading into the OVA 16U Tier 1 Ontario Championships in April.

Final Standings - OVA 16U Girls Tier 1 Open